Playing Division I water polo is difficult. Imagine playing a sport in which defenders attempt to drown you, wherein even the act of catching one’s breath requires that you maintain buoyancy by treading water. Swimming 4,000 yards a day in practice is common. There’s also all of the grabbing, kicking and jabbing that goes on underwater — elements that are never seen by spectators. It’s enough to send the most elite of athletes scattering elsewhere to look for a less burdensome sport.
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Nolyn Wild sees these challenges and welcomes them with open arms. For Nolyn, a redshirt freshman on Long Beach State’s men’s water polo team, water polo is an escape in the most natural of senses, alleviating the stress of hardships that have been with him and his family throughout his life.
Nolyn grew up in Riverside, as the youngest of five children, with three brothers and a sister. He has always had an intimate relationship with his second-oldest brother Glyn, who has been in a wheelchair since Nolyn was three years old.
Glyn was paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 16 as the result of a car accident that killed the other passenger, a close friend of Glyn’s. Because Nolyn was so young at the time, he can’t remember seeing his brother out of a wheelchair.
“If there was something positive to take from it, it was that Nolyn never felt sorry for his older brother. Glyn was just Glyn,” Nolyn’s father, Durwyn Wild, said.
Nolyn naturally stepped into the role of caring for his older brother, and through the experience he learned more than most would at a young age.
“Growing up, being his younger brother, I kind of had to be his hands,” Wild said. “It definitely helped me understand people with disabilities and the fact that some people are born with them and that some get them throughout their lives.”
While this presented challenges for the whole Wild family, it never hindered their love for one another, and they moved forward.
Nolyn and his brother Gavyn Wild, who is the closest in age to Nolyn, began excelling in club swimming during their middle school years. One day a coach noticed the brothers’ natural ability in the water and suggested to their father that they check out water polo.
Thus began the two youngest Wild brothers’ journey into the world of water polo.
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Gavyn began thriving as a goalie, and Nolyn was a utility player. He found his strength in one of the more challenging positions in defending at two meters, and it wasn’t long before the brothers were highly-touted prospects in the water polo community.
Then, just as everything seemed to be going well for the Wilds, Nolyn’s mother was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. Nolyn was in eighth grade at the time of the diagnosis, and the cancer spread so rapidly that by the time Nolyn entered his freshman year at Riverside Poly High School, his mother had passed away.
It was another blow to the Wild household. For Nolyn, his mother’s death struck at a time when teens of that age need all the guidance and nurturing they can get.
“That was pretty dramatic; it didn’t totally hit me at the time,” Nolyn said, “but it was good to have all of my siblings there for support.”
The tragedy forced Nolyn, who was already helping to care for his disabled older brother, to grow up even faster. The time presented decisions that would have life-altering implications. However, instead of burying himself in sorrow, Nolyn took his mother’s passing and responded positively. His perspective on life became more wholesome, and he saw the miniscule problems that most kids his age worried over to be insignificant in comparison to what truly mattered in life.
“I don’t want to say that I’m more grown up or more mature, but the way that I look at things are just kind of different than how it goes in a regular family,” Nolyn said.
However tragic the experience was, the Wild family saw no choice but to grow stronger and unite with one another to persevere through the challenging period.
It wasn’t all easy to overcome, and at one point Nolyn contemplated quitting water polo. His father, Durwyn, was there to lend him advice and help guide him, telling him that no matter what, he’d support Nolyn.
“He’s always been there for me and had my back,” Nolyn said.
Nolyn chose to stick with the sport. In doing so he had a secret weapon of sorts at his side that pulled him through the rough time he was facing.
“Water polo was kind of my go-to,” Wild said. “It was my way of getting some stress out, my mind off of everything else, swimming some laps, getting a good workout in and having a lot of fun.”
Nolyn’s father said he was happy with his son’s decision.
“That was his outlet,” Durwyn said. “It was critical and very therapeutic for him, just immersing himself in practice and games.”
Because of his high-skill level, Nolyn was promoted to play on Riverside Poly’s varsity squad as a freshman. This let him play with his brother Gavyn, who was a senior.
“That was honestly the most fun I’ve ever had playing water polo,” Nolyn said. “My brother was just somebody I could really look up to … He had the experience as a [junior] national team member, and it was really fun having him as my goalie.”
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Both Nolyn and Gavyn can now be seen playing in Division I water polo action, but this time they’re on opposing sides. Gavyn is a senior goalie at Loyola Marymount, and Nolyn is in his first active year with the 49ers as a redshirt freshman, traveling with the team and maintaining a vital role in its success.
For the two Wild brothers, playing Division I water polo is a dream come true, but when the ‘Niners and the Lions match up with one another, the brotherly love is temporarily set aside and the stakes get exceedingly higher.
“My coach knows the whole competitiveness behind our sibling rivalry,” Wild said. “So, every chance that I get to score on my brother, he’s all for it.”
One person who’s grinning from ear to ear every time his sons face each other is Durwyn. Durwyn spends his weekends ping-ponging from tournament to tournament to watch his two youngest sons.
“He’s always been there and had my back; he’s been through a lot more than I have,” Nolyn said.
To say that the Wild family has been through a lot would be an understatement. Even before Nolyn was born, the family had to endure tragedy. Durwyn’s second daughter died in a freak drowning accident when she was an infant. She was the older sister Nolyn never met.
Even with all of the odds stacked against them, the Wilds have triumphed. Durwyn has put five children through college, kept his family strong and made a positive turn as the patriarch of his family. Some of his children have gone on to start families of their own.
Glyn also now has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling and was recently hired at UC Riverside as a Disability Support Service counselor.
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Nolyn is still in his infancy with the 49ers, but he knows that the years to come will give him ample opportunity to help surge the ‘Niners towards greatness and conquer his personal goals in the process. Nolyn will be looking to lead LBSU in the two-meter defense department, a position that requires the utmost strength, endurance and awareness.
“You’re always moving, telling the other defenders to press or to go into zone,” Nolyn said.
With this on his shoulders, Nolyn is looking forward to the years to come and being able to reach his highest level of playing yet. In doing so, he hopes to honor his mother in the process.
“When I try to achieve things, it makes me feel better when I think of how proud my mom would be, and it gives me the will to want to reach my goals,” Nolyn said.
For Nolyn and many others, the sport of water polo never gets easier. But what will continue to help put those strenuous workouts and hard-fought games into perspective is the thought of what Nolyn, his family and many others affected by similar tragedies have overcome. Nolyn knows that even through tragedy, one can find triumph and move forward.